It's projected that Hillary Clinton will have more popular votes than Barack Obama on June 3rd. Some news organizations have already declared her the popular vote leader.
Yet many party officials seem anxious to coronate Barack Obama prior to the Democratic convention. They must have short memories, and have forgotten the sense of outrage and injustice we (the Democrats) experienced when Al Gore was robbed of his election mandate 8 years ago.
"Hillary Democrats" will feel aggrieved if the Superdelegates over-turn their votes. It's naive to assume that they'll jump on the Unity Express to join forces against Republican enemies in November. Millions of Democrats (and some others too) -- the majority of whom belong to that key demographic called women -- are already steaming mad at how Clinton is being treated by her colleagues, aided by a misogynist mass media.
As a reminder, Hillary Clinton has dedicated decades of her life to fighting for progressive causes and Democratic candidates. She is a 2-term Senator from the 3rd largest state in the union, and a major voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. At the end of this primary process, she will have inspired nearly 20 million people to get out and vote for her. Millions of them are just like me -- actively campaigning and donating for the first time in our lives.
Now, this takes nothing away from Senator Obama, as he has also inspired millions of people. But he's getting the respect due from Democratic peers while Hillary Clinton -- champion of children and sick people and veterans and women -- is being treated like a nuisance. Some have even attacked her character and dignity, such as Obama surrogate Ted Kennedy who recently said that Clinton is not "in tune with...the nobler aspirations of the American people."
In the absence of a rational explanation for this abuse, millions of women (and men too) are fuming because, frankly, it reeks of good ole fashioned back-slapping sexism. I'm not alone in wondering out loud whether a man in Clinton's position -- that is, a serious contender for the presidential nomination who has won swing states (most recently by 41%) and built a formidable coalition needed to win the White House -- would be taunted, ridiculed, and treated like an outcast.
As a woman who has been on the receiving end of double standards, and one who happens to believe that Hillary Clinton will be the best President of my lifetime, I want to urge Senator Clinton to take her campaign all the way to the convention floor. By earning more than half the votes cast, she has every right to make her case directly to party representatives in the proper venue, and even a responsibility to the voters.
See, this is the way it is for Clinton supporters. If you throw Hillary under the bus, we go with her. And although our leader would be gracious in asking us to disregard the injustice, millions of "Hillary Democrats" will be unable to do so. "Backlash" is a real social and psychological phenomenon. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Note: please don't shoot the messenger.
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